Keith Aronson, director of the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State (Clearinghouse), has received a 2026-27 Penn State Opportunity Grant from the Center for Faculty Development and Advancement in Penn State’s Office of Faculty Affairs. The grants support the professional development of non-tenure-line faculty and are funded by the Office of the President and the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research.
Aronson’s grant, titled “Developing Cross-National Understanding and Partnership for the Health and Well-Being of Post-9/11 Veterans,” will support the development of a new collaboration between the Clearinghouse and the Veterans and Families Institute for Military Social Research (VFIMSR) at Anglia Ruskin University in the United Kingdom.
“I am excited to deepen our understanding of international issues related to military-to-civilian transitions,” Aronson said. “The research conducted by the Veterans and Families Institute for Military Social Research has significantly influenced the U.K. Ministry of Defence policy on veteran transition success. At the Clearinghouse, we hope to strengthen our own policy impact in this area moving forward.”
The partnership has four primary goals, including expanding Aronson’s understanding of the health and well-being challenges faced by British veterans as they transition to civilian life and identifying innovative approaches to improve those experiences. As part of the project, Aronson will also present to faculty at VFIMSR on Clearinghouse research related to military-to-civilian transitions and explore how findings from U.S.-based studies may inform the institute’s work with veterans in the United Kingdom.
“This opportunity grant reflects the outstanding and highly impactful program of research that has emerged from the Clearinghouse over the past 15 years,” said Deborah Ehrenthal, director of the Social Science Research Institute. “Dr. Aronson and his colleagues have played an important role in advancing our understanding of how military-to-civilian transitions unfold over time, including the resilience and risk factors that shape those experiences.”
Aronson said he hopes the relationship between the Clearinghouse and VFIMSR will lead to a future collaborative research project focused on a longitudinal study of veteran transitions in the United Kingdom.
About the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness
The Clearinghouse is an applied research center committed to advancing service members' and their families' health and well-being. The Clearinghouse takes a solution-oriented approach that includes conducting applied research studies, building workforce expertise through training and resource provision, implementing and evaluating evidence-informed programs and practices and delivering objective data and policy-relevant findings, so decisions are based on the best science and evidence available. The Clearinghouse is located within Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute.